“We’re going out for dinner tonight,” King Bood of Ballintaggart Castle informed me. Good! Means I don’t have to cook. I started WWOOFing (willing workers on organic farms) at Ballintaggart in the Atherton Tablelands the other week. It’s a gorgeous location 1000 metres above sea level, in a round house with 360 degree views and a rainforest next door. I’ve been planting rainforests in return for food and keep, a rather sweet deal I’d say!
Before we left Bood mentioned that it was a dinner with a local trading group where items could be exchanged for other items. This caught my attention and I explained that I had a laptop up for trading! He prepared a dish and took some wine. We went to Kevin’s house where 8 other people had gathered with home grown, home made, organic and bio-dynamic food! After the delicious feast, we got down to business. The group are called LETS (local exchange trading scheme). Each person at the table spoke in turn, telling us their ‘wants’ and ‘offerings’. So for example, Phil was offering eggs, and wanted curtains. Because of the complexity of matching up value for value trades (i.e. curtains are worth much more than a half dozen eggs,) a trading currency had been introduced: Bartles, named after the local mountain Bartle Frere.
One Bartle is equivalent to about $1. People can earn Bartles by trading off items, then use the Bartles to buy more costly things. Ingenius huh? So when the world goes mad and currency looses it’s value, strengthened communities like this one may just survive!
My ears perked up when Alison offered a car. Her want was someone to deliver some books to Brisbane. If I had a car, I could deliver some books! Sadly she didn’t want a laptop and I realised that this battered Acer is only really worth about 150 Bartles at a push. The car is going for 600 Bartles. Out of my league? Yes. Interesting? Definitely! I’m pleased to have learnt something new about community life in North Queensland. It’s thriving and it has some innovative and resourceful people in it. Now perhaps I should go chase up the latest trade up lead; I’ve been offered a Toyota Hiace van for the laptop! Rusty around the edges, coloured like a cow, doesn’t start. Now if I can jut find a battery for it…
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Emma! This is awesome. YOU are awesome. I like how you've found yourself in a trading community :-) Hope wwoofing is going well and that you are meeting some cool people. Take care and I miss you xx
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